Ride your bike, bring the kids! Friends will have a booth at the Fat Tire Festival featuring games, giveaways, puzzles and more. We’ll be in Founders Park near the big fish from 1-4 on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 & 29. Enter a free drawing and win a tote full of Friends of Rapid City Parks gear.
Win Parks Gear
An opinion piece pointing out continuing encroachment into the memorial greenway by Friends president Steve McCarthy appeared in the May 21 Rapid City Journal. You can read it here.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting will begin taping this June for a documentary on the 1972 Flood to be aired on the 40th anniversary next year.
If you lived in Rapid City during the flood and are willing to tell your story, SDPB wants to interview you. According to reporter Charles Michael Ray, the video documentary will also examine new USGS information on the major floods of Rapid Creek in the past 2000 years. The piece will also delve into current development issues in the greenway and broader flood plain.
Flood survivors who want to share their recollections can contact:
Charles Michael Ray
West River News Producer
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
2040 West Main #302
Rapid City, SD
57702
Charles.Ray@state.sd.us
(605) 394-3363 (office)
(605) 391-0475 (cell)
1-866-771-0162 (fax)
RAPID CITY—Friends of Rapid City Parks is asking the city council to reconsider giving the nod to construction of yet another building in the memorial greenway, an act the organization describes as “desecration of sacred ground.”
“We don’t object to another field house; we want the city to find another location that would serve the recreational needs of our community” said Steve McCarthy, president of Friends of Rapid City Parks. The organization was founded to protect, preserve and promote Rapid City parks and has fought development in the greenway, set aside as a memorial to those who died in the 1972 flood.
“In the years since then,” McCarthy said, “more than 60 structures have been erected in the park. If we don’t stop encroaching on this sacred ground, our park land will be nothing but a strip of bricks and pavement through the heart of the community.”
McCarthy pointed out that the city has community gyms at South and West middle schools, and justified construction of a new Central High School gym on park land because it will serve as a community recreational facility.
Friends objected to construction of the swim center and ice arena in the park in 2002, and has spoken against expanded parking lots that have paved over acres of greenway land along Rapid Creek.
“We understand the rationale of building the new field house in a central location on land the city already owns, connecting to existing buildings,” McCarthy said. “But that land is not ‘free.’ It came at a very high price. We are asking the city to keep its commitment to the memory of those who paid for it with their lives.”
Rapid City’s growth management department and Alta Planning unveiled a master plan in mid-April to make bicycling and walking an integral part of transportation in Rapid City. The plan recommends 10 priority projects including signage, bike lanes and shared lanes, that could be done in the near future. It builds on existing trails and paths that run through the parks by connecting recreational trails to educational, work and retail destinations.
Top recommendations are designed to overcome obstacles to walking and cycling, and give walkers and bikers access past major highways and corridors that divide the city. Longer term proposals include trail construction and ongoing education. According to the document, the long term vision is to make Rapid City “a world-class biking and walking community with a diversified transportation system in which pedestrians and bicyclists are a priority in transportation planning, design and maintenance; where streets that accommodate bicyclists and sidewalks are accessible and user friendly; and where citizens have many travel options in their daily lives.”
The plan provides suggestions for education, encouragement and enforcement programs to improve the walking and biking environment in the Rapid City area. The public had a chance to view the plan at an open house and the City Council voted to approve the draft plan on April 18. Council member Aaron Costello noted that the report is a draft and interested individuals can continue to submit their recommendations and comments on the plan. Download a copy of the master plan or executive summary.
Friends of Rapid City Parks will host two candidate forums this year in order to provide ample time for both city council and mayoral candidates to present their views and answer questions.
The 2011 city council candidate forum will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 31 at the Dahl Arts Center. A second event to showcase candidates for Mayor will take place Thursday, June 2 at 6:45, also at the Dahl. A reception prior to the mayor candidate forum will begin at 6:00. The public is invited and the events are free of charge.
The annual public forums provide park advocates an opportunity to ask candidates about their views on parks, environment, and preservation of the green ribbon along Rapid Creek. Read about the candidates in the Rapid City Journal.
This year 11 candidates are competing for 2-year terms representing Rapid City’s five wards. In the six years since FRCP has sponsored the forum, green issues such as water quality, open space, bike paths, parks, and development in the floodway have taken on increasing importance among city voters.
Parks issues that are sure to be raised include continued attempts to develop in the floodway, acquisition of new park land, maintenance and support of existing parks, and contribution of parks and open space to Rapid City’s quality of life.
The Rapid City Parks and Recreation Department has extended the following invitation:
You are invited to an Open House to view and comment on proposed improvements to the Rapid City Greenway Trails and Park System Project. The improvements include bike path and pedestrian path improvements near the Central States Fairgrounds, SDSM&T, Founders Park and Executive Golf Course. The project also includes facility improvements at Founders Park including a pedestrian bridge, landscaping, restrooms and parking improvements.
The Open House will be held on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in the First Floor Community Room at the City/School Administration Center, 300 Sixth Street, Rapid City, SD 57701.
Questions should be directed to Brian Tideman, P.E. @ CETEC Engineering Services, Inc. (605) 341-7800.
Click to download a copy of our comments and concerns about the project.
Take some time to get out into our wonderful parks to celebrate this weekend!
